So now that I am moving from through-hole components on hand-wired boards to surface mount goodies on manufactured PCBs it occurs to me that the .1" IDC connectors and cables that I am using (6, 10, 16 and 20 pin ones, counting the 6 pin Atmel programmer cable) might be able to be replaced with something a little more modern and higher density. But I don't know a lot about this subject. What is a good higher density surface-mount socket and cable system for board interconnection? If through-hole still makes sense for this then suggest that instead, but it has to be denser than .1" IDC. I am thinking logic level here, not a lot of current. I can solder up to TQFP 0.5mm parts now so keep that in mind. If it is no harder to solder than that I can probably make it work. Suggestions? Thanks a lot, again.

I have only come here seeking knowledge. Things they would not teach me of in college.

Too many to list. Per Newark the common sizes are 2.54mm (which is .1"), 2mm (XBees use that), 1.27mm, 1mm, and .8mm.

OK, well I just did a bit of a search on eBay to see if there was something cheap that I could use to try this out. Found a product called FFC (flat flex cable) 1.0mm pitch, 8 pins, theoretically ZIF (though I don't see how), 12 cm cables. I bought 20 headers and 10 cables and that should be more than enough to play with. Thanks.

I have only come here seeking knowledge. Things they would not teach me of in college.